ATLANTA — In three weeks, early voters will start going to the polls ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.
The first day of early voting, on Oct. 13, will also feature the final candidates in two days of debates coordinated by the Atlanta Press Club at Georgia Public Broadcasting’s midtown Atlanta studios.
Every statewide candidate will be there on Oct. 12 and 13, except one or two, including the headliner of the Republican ballot.
Rick Jackson, the Republican who is asking voters to make him Georgia’s next governor, has formally declined to attend, said Lauri Strauss, executive producer of the debate series.
Fitz Johnson, a Republican running for Public Service Commission, the agency that regulates energy companies, has not confirmed or declined his attendance yet but has been communicating with organizers.
“He’s been responsive, but I just don’t have a yes or no from him,” Strauss said, adding that organizers hope Jackson changes his mind and decides to attend.
With Jackson’s absence, the top matchup will be between Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and the Republican who wants to unseat him, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.
Incendiary exchanges between the two are likely when they field journalists’ questions and confront each other for an hour at 8 p.m. on Oct. 13 to close out the debate series.
In recent but separate events, Ossoff has painted Collins as a white supremacist sympathizer while Collins has called Ossoff a communist who wants open borders.
The first debate, at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 12, promises a fiery clash, as well.
State Sens. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, and Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, want to be Georgia’s next lieutenant governor. Both earned reputations for sharp debating styles during their legislative fights in the state Senate.
Also on the schedule that afternoon are the candidates for attorney general — Rep. Tanya Miller, D-Atlanta, versus Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough; and for secretary of state — Rep. Tim Fleming, R-Covington, and attorney and former judge Penny Brown Reynolds, the Democrat.
That evening, the candidates for two PSC races are on the agenda, with or without Johnson, who is fighting to retake his old seat from Democrat Peter Hubbard, who dislodged him last year.
The prime-time slot on Oct. 12 was scheduled for a showdown between Jackson and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democrat running against Jackson for governor.
Instead of a debate, the 8 p.m. event will feature Bottoms fielding questions from journalists and likely lobbing some of her own at an empty rostrum for Jackson.
That is what happened at the final Press Club debate for the GOP primary, when Lt. Gov. Burt Jones appeared at the GPB studios for the June runoff debate, but Jackson did not, having declined to attend.
Jones used Jackson’s absence as an opportunity to attack him on ethics and on issues such as immigration.
So far, Jackson has agreed to meet Bottoms at just one event: a town hall-style encounter hosted by Atlanta News First on Oct. 6.
Jackson skipped a forum Thursday in Macon moderated by a local NBC affiliate, prompting a rebuke from Bottoms.
“He didn’t feel that you all were worthy enough of his presence this evening,” her campaign quoted her as saying. “I will continue to be here, and I will work on behalf of all of you.”
The Jackson campaign had announced previously that he would only be participating in the Atlanta News First event though Bottoms sought a half dozen debates.
“Keisha Lance Bottoms and her allies are doing anything they can to distract from the fact that they’re running such a disastrous campaign that she cannot reach Georgians without Rick’s help,” Jackson’s campaign said.